Timeline: How the project grew

NEWPORT BEACH – The city's new $135 million Civic Center, dubbed the "Taj Mahal" by many, was not envisioned in a day.

Nor will it be paid for in a day. By the time the city pays for its dream home – and the cost of financing it over 30 years – the total bill to taxpayers will be at least $237 million, city finance documents show.

"The amount of money spent here is obscene for a Civic Center," said Denys Oberman, a longtime resident and a vocal critic of the project. "With all the infrastructural needs we have, the council, with this project, has indebted our city. This is an example of irresponsibility."

City officials defend the Civic Center and park project as a good investment. Designed to be both smart and beautiful, the finished product will be energy-efficient and durable enough to last a century, officials say.

"We get defensive about it because we see it as a once-in-a-lifetime project – and five or six projects in one," City Manager Dave Kiff said. "People forget that. They say, 'It's just a city hall.' ... I think some of them will change their minds when they see the site, use the building, walk in the park. I would hope people would withhold their judgment until they see it and use it."

A review of the project's planning documents, contracts, invoices and change orders by the Orange County Register shows how the cost of the project tripled from an estimated $46 million in 2005 to a final projected cost closer to $139 million today.

•The scope of the project expanded from a new city hall, parking garage and upgraded fire station at the site of the old city hall on Balboa Peninsula, as envisioned in 2005, to a sprawling Civic Center on a park-like plot of ocean-view land just below Newport Center. Voters approved the site change in 2008, paving the way for the more ambitious project.

•City interest groups, including law enforcement and library officials, the public, and council members, asked for expensiveadditions to the project, including a community room, an emergency-readiness center, an expanded library, sculpture gardens, a pedestrian bridge, and a dog park.

•The city is funding most of the project with certificate-of-participation bonds that will cost taxpayers at least $225 million to repay principal and interest and will not be retired until 2040. If the city fails to get expected federal subsidies on the bonds, the cost will climb to $278 million.

For its money, Newport Beach will get a 95,000-square-foot, energy-efficient office building that includes council chambers and a community room, an emergency-readiness center in the basement, a 17,000-square-footexpansion of the Central Library, a 450-space parking garage sunk into the ground to preserve ocean views, 16 acres of parks including a pedestrian bridge, a Civic Green and public art, according to a presentation available on the city's website.

The sprawling glass and steel Civic Center will be topped with a wavelike roof and furnished with high-end furniture and fixtures, including 204 leather Herman Miller chairs designed by modernist designers Charles and Ray Eames, at a cost of $1,073 each, according to city invoices.

Even the lawns will be carefully decorated, according to cost breakdowns prepared by the city. The city plans to pay $902 for professionals to pose15 rabbit sculptures at the site.

Assistant City Manager Steve Badum, the project manager for the city, said the project is being built at a time when construction and finance costs are low.

"When we look at this project several years from now, it will seem like a pretty good bargain," Badum said.

A scenic overlook with ocean views is being built on the southern end of the pedestrian bridge that crosses San Miguel Drive at the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The new Newport Beach Civic Center is rising up behind a construction fence along Avocado Avenue. The sail shape outside the City Council chambers is meant to evoke the city's nautical heritage. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Iconic wave shapes form the roof of the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A family of rabbit sculptures will inhabit the park at the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Landscaping and furniture are being added to the new Newport Beach Civic Center as construction continues. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An extension of the Newport Beach Public Library is part of the new civic center construction project. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An overlook with ocean views is being built on the southern end of the pedestrian bridge which crosses San MIguel Drive at the new Newport Beach Civic Center JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A sculpture of a rabbit looks down from the park as workers landscape the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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